Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29131857›Full record

ArticlePloS one2017

Internal tissue references for 18Fluorodeoxyglucose vascular inflammation imaging: Implications for cardiovascular risk stratification and clinical trials.

Mark A Ahlman, Davis M Vigneault, Veit Sandfort, Roberto Maass-Moreno, Jenny Dave, Ahmed Sadek, Marissa B Mallek, Mariana A F Selwaness, Peter Herscovitch, Nehal N Mehta and 1 more

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
0.4field-weighted citation impact, top 32% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 9 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. ACR Appropriateness Criteria® Noncerebral Vasculitis.Journal of the American College of Radiology : JACR · 2021
    Guideline
  2. Preclinical evaluation of high-resolution CT,European journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging · 2025
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Mark A AhlmanRadiology and Imaging Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States of America.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3906-2084
Davis M VigneaultRadiology and Imaging Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States of America.
Veit SandfortRadiology and Imaging Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States of America.
Roberto Maass-MorenoRadiology and Imaging Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States of America.
Jenny DaveNational Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States of America.
Ahmed SadekNational Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States of America.
Marissa B MallekRadiology and Imaging Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States of America.
Mariana A F SelwanessRadiology and Imaging Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States of America.
Peter HerscovitchPET Research Department, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States of America.
Nehal N MehtaNational Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States of America.
David A BluemkeRadiology and Imaging Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States of America.
National Institutes of Health · USTufts University · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introduction18Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) uptake in the artery wall correlates with active inflammation. However, in part due to the low spatial resolution of PET, variation in the apparent arterial wall signal may be influenced by variation in blood FDG activity that cannot be fully corrected for using typical normalization strategies. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the ability of the current common methods to normalize for blood activity and to investigate alternative methods for more accurate quantification of vascular inflammation. MATERIALS AND

methodsThe relationship between maximum FDG aorta wall activity and mean blood activity was evaluated in 37 prospectively enrolled subjects aged 55 years or more, treated for hyperlipidemia. Target maximum aorta standardized uptake value (SUV) and mean background reference tissue activity (blood, spleen, liver) were recorded. Target-to-background ratios (TBR) and arterial maximum activity minus blood activity were calculated. Multivariable regression was conducted, predicting uptake values based on variation in background reference and target tissue FDG uptake; adjusting for gender, age, lean body mass (LBM), blood glucose, blood pool activity, and glomerular filtration rate (GFR), where appropriate.

resultsBlood pool activity was positively associated with maximum artery wall SUV (β = 5.61, P<0.0001) as well as mean liver (β = 6.23, P<0.0001) and spleen SUV (β = 5.20, P<0.0001). Artery wall activity divided by blood activity (TBRBlood) or subtraction of blood activity did not remove the statistically significant relationship to blood activity. Blood pool activity was not related to TBRliver and TBRspleen (β = -0.36, P = NS and β = -0.58, P = NS, respectively).

conclusionsIn otherwise healthy individuals treated for hyperlipidemia, blood FDG activity is associated with artery wall activity. However, variation in blood activity may mask artery wall signal reflective of inflammation, which requires normalization. Blood-based TBR and subtraction do not sufficiently adjust for blood activity. Warranting further investigation, background reference tissues with cellular uptake such as the liver and spleen may better adjust for variation in blood activity to improve assessment of vascular activity.

Indexed as

Clinical Trials as TopicAgedAtherosclerosisFemaleFluorodeoxyglucose F18HumansMaleMiddle AgedMultimodal ImagingPositron-Emission TomographyProspective StudiesRadiopharmaceuticalsTomography, X-Ray ComputedVasculitisFluorodeoxyglucose F18Radiopharmaceuticals

Identifiers

PMID29131857
PMCPMC5683610
OpenAlexW2769848628

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC0
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.